The hottest topic around Trek these days has been about the villain (and his plan) in Star Trek Into Darkness. A newly released video of Benedict Cumberbatch from the Japanese press event offers some more tidbits, including how JJ Abrams described the role villain role before his audition. Cumberbatch also says that even though he is a bad guy, the villain has a three dimensional motivation and he may even be a sympathetic character.

Cumberbatch: Abrams pitched villain as combo of baddies – but you can empathize with him

A just released video from the recent Japanese press event for Star Trek Into Darkness features Benedict Cumberbatch talking to GyaO! about his role as the villain in Star Trek Into Darkness. Like with other interviews, he describes the character as a terrorist who is adept as both physical and psychological warfare. But he also offered up this tidbit about how producer/director JJ Abrams described the role before he even auditioned…

JJ described the role in movie terms as a mixture of Hannibal Lector, Jack in the Shining and The Joker in Batman. There are sorts of levels to pitch in amongst quite a high bar as well to succeed in comparison to. It was a framework to understand this character before I saw the whole script.

Cumberbatch went on to say that his character (John Harrison) is not a two-dimensional baddie and you might even feel for him…

I would say he is three dimensional in a way that he has a purpose, unlike the villains can sometimes go in franchises where it is just the obstacle – just this immovable thing this entity in the way or destroying what the good guys do. This person has real purpose behind his actions – his intention. It doesn’t mean I condone them, but I can empathize with the reasons. So there is a degree of leaning in and understanding and caring about him as well as being terrified about what he is doing.

just think in 6 months we’ll know everything – who the main villain is, if Khan and the augments are in it or not , who lives, who dies, if any TOS music will be heard, all the little Trek references/easter eggs etc etc

Just saw the 9 minutes again today in IMAX 3D after finally taking my post-surgery recovering wife to see “The Hobbit” (great movie, BTW), and after seeing Cumberbatch’s super Anglo features and accent on the big screen? Well, all I can say is that if someone had said at that very moment that he was playing Khan Noonian Singh from “Space Seed”, it’d probably generate an audible laugh or two. It’d be like saying Elijah Wood was playing the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.

John Harrison is so clearly not Khan Noonian Singh. He is an augment of some sort, of that I have little doubt (probably of Starfleet design as well, but that’s supposition, not a fact) and he probably was Khan in an earlier draft of the script (which is where Anthony’s source probably got his info), but Harrison is not Khan now. When I told my wife after the movie that the rumor mill suggested Cumberbatch was cast as Khan, she just laughed it off.

And would any sensible, impartial person who has seen both Space Seed and WoK describe Khan as a cross between Hannibal Lector, the Joker and Jack Torrance?!? Really doubt it. That’s not exactly a Khan Noonian Singh profile.

At this point in the game, I really don’t care much for this “character” and what drives him, or the entire movie, for that matter. Seriously.

I’m still cheesed off about the name. John Harrison. Really? Is that the best they could do? If that’s the case, why not name the bad guy Dick Dack, John Smith, Mike Schumntz, Roger Prodactor, Dirk Hardmeat, Brick Hardpeck or Elmo Jones (Hey, he was canon! Really! He was the 7th guy from the right, 14th scene, 8th blurry background extra on the Carbomite Maneuver! You remember that guy……right? Right?)

The more I read about this dude, this movie, how they went about promoting it and all the hype and the MAJOR SERIOUS let down about the name AND who the bad guy is………………killed it for me.

Gonna be reading the entire movie on Moviespoiler.com. Not paying my hard-earned moolah to see it.

Oh, one more thing. For all those Khan-hards out there who just KNOW that this guy is Khan…why don’t we have a “if it’s not Khan we get to kick you in the nuts” contest? That would make a great story here! Perhaps we could post some camera-happy, telephoto-lens-equipped shmuck in a tree about 2 miles out and get some great shots of the action!

I’m really not all that concerned with this Cumbersomesnatch character. All I care about is if the Gay-Trek-Character problem has been addressed appropriately. And, it had better not be this Cumbersomesnatch person.

The villain in the new Star Trek is a guy named John Harrison. It’s a new character and a new story. All this makes me wonder if some fans will still persist in thinking John Harrison is actually Khan even after they’ve seen the movie.

Speaking of Star Trek Villains, I was just watching Balance of Terror. Mark Leonard as the Romulan commander said something that struck me –

“You and I are of a kind. In a different reality, I could’ve called you friend.”

In your JJ-verse, since Nero has altered the relationship between Romulans & the Federation, might Ben Cross feel up to playing that same Romulan commander but in a different light? Or more possibly, in the comics?

All, after listening to Pike’s voice multiple time in his voice over on the newest trailer, I have come to the conclusion that Pike may be giving a deathbed speech to Kirk. Listen carefully and you can hear his voice quaking and crackling like he is losing energy and having some difficulty getting the words out.

Combined with the funeral scene, I am sorry to have to say that I think Pike dies in this movie and that his voice-over words of advice to Kirk are being said by him as he lies dying after being injured in the terrorist strike on Starfleet HQ.

@29 I prefer it like this, actually. Marketing is suppose to mess up with your head in a way, you know, to keep you intrigued. And I willingly surrender to the manipulation of the marketing team for now. Haha!

First off, Benedict Cumberbatch is an amazingly talented actor. Period.

Next, this clip is from a Japanese press interview. Not only did Cumberbatch have the intelligence and grace to slow down his rhythm of speech for both cultural considerations and logistics of translation, he also displayed a humility that escapes most actors.

He certainly understood his Japanese audience when he expressed fear in living up to the role while clearly stating that he had to audition for the part. Total humility. Most actors would try to gloss over the hiring process by flat out saying they were offered the role.

This guy is supersmart, immensely talented and, for us to have him star in a Star Trek movie, we are very lucky to have him!

Therefore, he has to be someone else (the laziest assumption), or John Harrison is an unnamed character (or a character named just “John”, or just “Harrison”) as referenced somewhere in the original 80 episodes and 8 films (possibly including the animated series). Unless Orci lied, which he said he hasn’t.

So don’t blame those guessing, blame the producers for creating the game.

RM10019, I’ve thought all along that Pike was going down in this movie as well, and I believe multiple other people have commented similarly on this recently. However, this new observation from MJ regarding Pike’s voice does certainly seem to support this.

I wasn’t claiming here to have solely predicted Pike’s death ahead of time in STID — sure, many have made that comment here before.

What is new and original about my comment in @28 above is that I believe that I have now proven that he dies based on a careful listening to issues with Pike’s voice in the voice over for the latest trailer– no one else here has made that deduction. That is my new information here.

@17 Sebastian S.,
“And would any sensible, impartial person who has seen both Space Seed and WoK describe Khan as a cross between Hannibal Lector, the Joker and Jack Torrance?!? Really doubt it. That’s not exactly a Khan Noonian Singh profile.”

Sebastian, as much as I would like to agree with you, and wish it were true, it’s just not in the context of this universe.

If you think about it, Khan, was on his way to the nut farm in TWOK, and that’s fundamentally what all three of those villains Abrams cited have in common. But what motivated him in that case could not have happened in this timeline. And if we assume that John Harrison is Khan, then Space Seed could not have happened either.

So we’re left to speculate on a whole new backstory for Khan from the moment he was first awakened on the Botany Bay, which could have happened as much as 26 years earlier than this film. And if during that time Khan has been tortured, restrained, starved, abused, etc. suffice it to say he would have likely gone insane much sooner. Take into consideration Khan’s intelligence, and I could very easily imagine someone lying in a cell, strapped to a table, turning dark and inward to his intelligence, plotting his revenge day after day.

Unlike the Khan who was marooned on Ceti-Alpha but able to live freely in those confines, a tortured and imprisoned Khan would evolve quite differently. Rather than strike with quick and decisive brute force, he now wants to slowly pull his captor’s fingernails, to make them suffer as they made him suffer for so many years. He’s much more measured in his response, and we all know how he feels about best serving up revenge. His augments are perhaps dead, and its just him. But he has flashes of the Khan we know … Jack Torrence was reckless in his attempts to kill his family with an axe. The Joker was not afraid to use massively destructive weapons. And above all, like those villains, no one could make Khan listen to reason, even his own people, who may not be there to temper him as long as they did in TWOK.

Bottom line, if John Harrison turns out to be Khan, I would accept this kind of characterization given the proper backstory and motivation.

29. “Teasing us with misleading murky non-Trek inspired images is ruining the marketing.”

What the heck does “non-Trek inspired mean?” Trek may have made you wonder, but at some point you seem to have stopped…

Speaking of having an open mind, I watched Nemesis again on Netflix last night — and I was a little more appreciative of the attempt to make it mean something. It was clunky, sure. But it meant well, I think.

Oh but it does sound like the Khan who went to Regula I with Ceti slugs at his disposal and decided to torture and slit throats anyway. More, he didn’t leave a mess like a raging madman, but neat as with a practiced hand that had done it many many other times before. I submit that the admirable (PI) Khan that SPACE SEED Kirk’s history describes was a total fiction constructed by Kham himself to aid in fleeing his 2090 (sic) war crimes across time and space.

43.
More like a new theory .\It is not reall new information if you cannot prove it .
A lot of people thought that JGL was in the batsuit in the final scenes of TDKR, based on the theory that Batmans voice sounded differrent in the final scenes,
That didnt make it so

Khan never really exhibited a superior intellect. Mostly he was arrogant, and fatally overconfident, but he never seemed very smart to me. And not really all that strong, either, if Kirk could beat him into submission with what appeared to be hollow plastic tubes.

I’ve never thought of him as a very formidable enemy. It was Kirk’s incompetence in TWOK that gave Khan the advantage. Something clearly was strange about the situation with the defiant. Kirk SHOULD have raised those shields.

So if he plays Khan, let’s hope he’s got some better smarts in him. But I don’t think he’s playing Khan. I think he’s Elaan of Troyius, after having a sex change operation.

OH, and as for SIlence of the Lambs, I have to say that Lecter was not the scariest dude in that film. Buffalo Bill creeped me out much more. Ted Levine doesn’t get nearly the credit he deserves for that film. I love Anthony Hopkins, but I don’t think Lecter is his best stuff at all.

The voice over rings in my ears.. And he is playing a character named John Harrison. It got me thinking…

At the end of the Eugenics War, the war-criminal N. Khan was captured surrounded by 80 of his loyal troops who were in the process of using a sleeper ship to escape to parts unknown.

Shortly after launch they were intercepted, already asleep for their long journey. Having been thought killed in the war by most of the it was decided not to revive them; but rather leave them imprisoned in a holding facility – far from the vengeful public’s eye. Khan had utilized weapons of mass destruction and vast genetic knowledge, the secret of which he carried in his now-preserved state. There might be a time again where such knowledge may proved useful.

Fast forward many decades when a young Dr. Carol Marcus is tasked with working on a top secret project for Starfleet. Her task was to resurrect a sleeper if possible – although given the length of time it was likely-hood that would survive was very small. He was a medical doctor who possessed information valuable to Starfleet. That man was John Harrison.

Charismatic, incredibly smart, and expressing a willingness to pay for his cohorts past deeds, Harrison willingly works with Starfleet providing them with assistance. His medical knowledge is staggering, despite his young age.

Over years of work, he builds the trust of Starfleet – long enough to find his cohorts and set into motion a plan which will free them all.

Harrison is the villain of this picture, but he’s really the foot soldier of a the real villain to come.

This plot is a set up to reveal of Khan at the END of the movie, establishing the the villain for the third movie in the deal.

xx—xx

Why?

JJ loves a good mystery AND wants to keep us engaged. The idea of what’s NOT revealed is more powerful than what is actually in the box.

Revenge – the original title of ‘Wrath of Khan’ was ‘Revenge of Khan’, but that clashed with the Lucasfilm’s upcoming ‘Revenge of the Jedi’ (itself ultimately retitled). I have a copy of that original poster.

Family – The remnants of Khans people, those seen in the ‘casket’ image’ in the teaser. The play on the casket theme is an overt homage to WOK, but in closer detail they look like suspension pods.

Family – The motivation – John Harrison was the one of the original geneticists that perfected the superior human form ( which we call augments). For added twist, he may even be Soong himself! This could easily be the rumoured connection to Enterprise (the series), and could set up a very interesting timeline indeed ;)

The Teaser (the image that ties my crazy idea together) – two men leaving the room containing the ‘coffins’, one very broad shouldered, wearing a familiar cut of costume (TOS, engineering), with ponytail. He’s not Cumberbatch. That scene is most likely near the end of the movie as a set-up for the contractual third pic.

It is clear you’ve never taken a wifflebat crotch shot from a candy-enthused five year old at a pinata bash.

It’s called acting, i.e. behaving as if something that isn’t a lead pipe, is.

On the intellect thing: I think it is clearly another example of Kham believing his own (fictional) PR (1996? Yeah, right.) Also, why did Mr. Intellect slit the throat of the last Genesis scientist he captured thus guaranteeing he wasn’t going to get GENESIS info after he destroyed Enterprise as he fully intended?

” It was Kirk’s incompetence in TWOK that gave Khan the advantage. Something clearly was strange about the situation with the defiant. Kirk SHOULD have raised those shields”

Yes, that’s always annoyed me every time I watch it. Kirk is a complete twonk, and the script never adequately provides a justification for his behaviour. Why *not* raise the shields in this odd situation? It’s a definite script weakness for me.

As, to be honest, is Spock needing to hint to Kirk to think three dimensionally in the battle. Don’t they teach basic stuff like that at the academy?

Oh, and while I’m at it; when the viewscreen stops working due to interference, why not station some crew members at the windows with communicators (and perhaps some binoculars)? What does everyone else on this ship do during the battles anyway? Just sit in their cabins being rocked about? Well, okay, we know from Balance Of Terror that when Sulu pushes the “fire phasers” button, that just lights an indicator in the downstairs phaser room, then a guy sees that and shouts “fire phasers” at another guy who pushes a button that fires the phasers… but other than that..?

I always thouht the intention of the scriptwriter was clear: Kirk had lost a little of his finely honed edge flying a desk as Admiral.

The reason he didn’t raise shields was he was worried about what a desk jockey comes to prioritize: avoiding unneccessarily slighting a colleague. It was only because he had some of the old Kirk that he had phasers charged before getting caught with his breeches down.

Benedict Cumberbatch is an excellent up and coming actor; he plays Holmes in the brilliant new BBC series, “Sherlock” and he was also in the movie “War Horse” (in a small, but memorable role). He’s also played Prof. Stephen Hawking in 2004’s “Hawking” and he was also in Danny Boyles’ brilliant stage adaptation of “Frankenstein” (which I was lucky enough to have caught via Fathomevents.com). Believe me, this guy could be another Peter O’Toole. He’s that good….

And # 22 MJ

Thanks for the well wishes. ;-)

And yes, all it takes is a chuckle from my wife and the controversy over Khan is over. She’s uncanny that way… ;-D

just had a thought – in Trek III they followed with another Khan like villain (although one not out for revenge) even though that had sort of been ‘done’ in the last film so perhaps JJ etc went with another villain out for revenge as it worked out fine for Trek II/III and it seems to work best for big screen Trek anyway

the angry Khan like Villain out for revenge hasnt been done as much as i thought = II (obviously) ,IX (although the villain wants revenge against the planets people – not the crew) , X, XI, XII

QUESTION: is the NEW SYNOPSIS supposed to REPLACE the original synopsis? In other words — CLARIFY it?

“In the wake of a shocking act of terror from within their own organization, the crew of The Enterprise is called back home to Earth. In defiance of regulations and with a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads his crew on a manhunt to capture an unstoppable force of destruction and bring those responsible to justice.”

If we had read this first, would we be equating the “unstoppable force of destruction” with “from within their own organization”? Or would we think two different, but possibly related, events?

Would we equate the the “unstoppable force of destruction” with the “man” in the “manhunt”? Or would we think a man with something deadly at his command?

And finally, Kirk is going to bring “those” responsible to justice — as in more than one? We still don’t know what Weller’s role is in all of this, and he does have his own ship.

Reading the synopsis indicates the act of terror happens before the enterprise returns to Earth, and indeed precipitates her recall. But everything we see with Cumberbatch is after the Enterprise is home. Then a rogue Enterprise (TSFS anyone?) goes on a manhunt, pursuing Cumberbatch who left Earth before the Enterprise arrived, or who lingered around for awhile wreaking more havoc and then somehow got away while security was at its highest? Are these the scenes on the Klingon homeworld? If so, if he himself is the unstoppable force of “destruction” how do they capture him so easily?

And lastly, we know now that Carol Marcus is a weapons expert who holds the key to stopping Cumberbatch. If Cumberbatch himself is the unstoppable force of destruction, how does a weapons expert help? Wouldn’t you need a geneticist? Or is “weapons” expert intended to mislead us as to the type of weapon? Certainly augmented super-soldier is a kind of weapon.

Yes, he’s not Khan, but I do think Khan will appear. I’ve noticed that this film contains a lot of features of the first film, so they appear to be using the same pattern that worked so well — and why not? It’s great.

Just as we had a flashback scene that explained everything through Spock’s mind-meld in the first film, I expect a similar flashback scene in this film that explains the mystery. That is also where I would expect Khan to appear. Maybe the shot of the cryo-tubes is part of that scene, and perhaps that’s Harrison and Khan walking out of the room?

They have to tell it in flashback because if those 9 minutes we saw are the first 9 minutes of the movie, then Harrison is already out of his tube and a lot has transpired which we do not know about.

And that is part of the pattern of ST.09 which begins with a black hole being created and a ship emerging. At that point we know nothing about red matter or the destruction of Romulus, but that is what drives the story.

So that’s why I expect a similar flashback. Maybe even Quinto Spock’s first movie mind meld to get — force? — the information from Harrison?

I don’t understand how any of you could POSSIBLY think Cumberbatch is Khan–and not just for the obvious reasons (he’s a skinny British white guy). In the trailer, one of the shots is of Cumberbatch standing next to a broad-shouldered guy with a yellow coat and a black ponytail, walking out of a room filled with cryo-chambers. Obviously, THAT is Khan. So clearly, then, Cumberbatch is NOT Khan.

“Maybe the shot of the cryo-tubes is part of that scene, and perhaps that’s Harrison and Khan walking out of the room?”

Nice interpretation. They wouldn’t necessarily have to use a date (which has been stated could be problematic), but sure. Harrison is Khan’s engineer/biologist. Together they put his soldiers into stasis, that could even be the hold of the Botany Bay while docked on Earth. Once launched, Harrison puts Khan into stasis and then himself. But in this universe either Khan dies in stasis or is captured and killed by the Klingons. Or maybe Harrison kills Khan in stasis — his plan all along, rigging Khan’s stasis chamber to malfunction — to take control of the other augments. That’s the reference to 2001 HAL and Harrison.

@90 Gary S,
“where in the synopsis does it say Carol is a weapons expert?”

It’s not in the synopsis, Alice Eve says it in an interview, and Chris Pine says in another interview there is no romantic relationship per se, but Marcus’ scientific knowledge is key to resolving the crisis posed by Harrison.

As mentioned by #64 and I am sure many others by now, if this movie doesn’t end with Harrison’s final act awakening Khan, I will doubt JJ and Damon had anything to do with it. As nerds, how could they ignore this opportunity? Even just a shadow of Khan, a vague outline, ID on a warming pod, anything, to leave open casting for the 3rd film… talk about guaranteed excitement and competition for the role. Without having to covertly cast, they may avoid some of the problems of the Del Toro/etc. casting phase…

In my opinion (and again, many others–not too many original observations out there at this point) Harrison is almost certainly an augment. Perhaps he controlled most of Europe, based in London? A flashback scene would be very Lindel-brams, of course, and could be fascinating.

Much potential here. I was honestly a bit worried about a highly superficial plot, based on some of the writers’ past, but unless we are reading way more depth into than it has, I am optimistic…

Gee, I feel so much better knowing that the John Harrison character is a conglomeration of every other bad guy in movie history, including the Joker. When one doesn’t have an original thought, it’s always acceptable to copy from other sources in the entertainment industry, particularly from The Dark Knight. If I hear one more reference comparing anything in ST to TDK, I may just scream. Enough already.

103 My only problem on Weller being cast is his race. I read the whole reason Khan wasn’t white was Roddenberry’s feeling that he didn’t want these Supermen linked with the Nazi master race thing. So I hope the Supreme Court wouldn’t turn around & cast another white guy for Khan unless they never understood Roddenberry’s intent.

I sure wish we had a movie about Space Exploration & not dealing with Augments & Khan ad nauseam. And to think we may have to deal with this Khan talk again after this movie. I’m burned out. And you know one day even after the Supreme Court leave the franchise the new guys & studio will start hearing the Media created outcry & start the Khan rumors all over again. Until one day a remake or re-imaging is made. What a curse TWOK has become to the Star Trek franchise.

Whether Khan is actually BC’s character or not, the majority of Trek fans have come around to my way of thinking now that this is a story based on Khan in some fashion. It’s clear now that this is going to be a Khan-centric story.

Where’s that former huge majority of Mitchell fans like you that were so vocal just three weeks ago now, dude? I’ll tell you where they are — they are on my Khan-centric story bandwagon.

Well, with the information we have at this point in time, and from what I’ve seen in the 2 trailers and in the 9 min. prologue, I think John Harrison is simply a character named John Harrison. I see no indications that he himself, is actually Khan.

However, that being said, I think that Khan is going to have much to do with the backstory of Harrison, and I think Khan will definitely have something to do with the plot of this film. We already have one link to the Khan story from TWOK with the appearance of the Dr. Carol Marcus character.

In regards to Benedict Cumberbatch, I decided to check out some of his work, as I’ve never seen him in anything but War Horse and the Trek trailers/prologue. I watched Hawking, and another film called Third Star, and I though he was absoultely brilliant in both films. I’m impressed, and I’m looking forward to seeing him play the villain in the next Trek regardless of identity.

Of course, these thoughts are only my personal opinion, and nothing more. I enjoy the speculation.

@112 “However, that being said, I think that Khan is going to have much to do with the backstory of Harrison, and I think Khan will definitely have something to do with the plot of this film. We already have one link to the Khan story from TWOK with the appearance of the Dr. Carol Marcus character.”

personal i have no problem with it being john harriosn(boring name)and maybe his story came about becouse of the change in the time line! fanastic, just like what other people have said why the big wind up? why did you need to hide the fact? his name is not given anything away plot details! if it was then fair play

What if Khan is only in flashback scenes showing the Eugenics Wars because we keep forgetting that JJ wants the general movie going audience to see these Trek movies without having seeing the previous Trek series and movies. Except for ST 2009. The general movie going audience would know nothing about the Eugenics Wars and Khan. The flashback scenes could show briefly what they were about and Khan escaping with some of his people in the Botany Bay. This could be either in the middle of the sequel or at the end to set up the third if they save Khan for the third. Maybe they wanted Khan in the sequel but couldn’t get Del Toro and they rewrote it for the John Harrison character and they hope to get Del Toro for the third. Maybe that is another reason the sequel took so long?

Actually I’m kind of tired of the goofing up of Benedict’s name as well. Especially by ones who are purposely saying it to put him down or dismiss his accomplishments. Some of the nicknames are cute, but really #25? “A bit not good.”

@126. For the record, I never said I thought that it was Khan because of the pony tail as DM Duncan and some others have suggested. I just saw a very imposing figure next to someone that I think it Harrison, and that’s why I think it may be Khan. I definitely agree –that is not a pony tail

Here is exactly what I said:

“It’s possible that in that scene in the trailer with the suspended animation coffins, the large guy on the left with his back facing us is Khan, with Harrison on his right.”

Hear that, everyone? No more making fun of Benedart Cumberstruck’s name. The man is an accomplished actor. He may have a rough draft character name from a Harry Potter novel and look like David Hyde Pierce in a wind tunnel, but he is a legend.

Actually we have 2 conflicting statements on that. The writer says he wrote the script with the benefit that the 2009 effort established the characters and their stage on which they perform. But JJ says that he loves that he didn’t make the 2013 movie for fans of the 2009. Many interpret that to mean the sequel stands on its own.

I just find it funny that concerning a franchise with such wonderfully weird character, species and location names as—well, take your pick—some folks should get bent out of shape over having fun with a Trek actor’s name. How many times have we seen Shatner’s name butchered?

What if Harrison turns out not to be an Augment at all? What if like I have said before he is just a regular Starfleet officer that belongs to part of Starfleet that doesn’t like their current policies and wants to overthrow them? Maybe to do this he captures Dr. Marus and uses her to inject him with the Augment gene and he also looks up info about what happened to Khan because he wants to inlist their help? While he is looking up that info could be a good spot for a regular flashback scene and not with a mind meld. This sequel could be an attempt to just show what happens when the Trek Utopia gets disrupted.

Well, I’ve voiced my objections in the past to the mockery of Cumberbatch’s name. I realise to Americans it probably seems quintessentially British and so is fair game; I wonder if that would be the case if the actor’s name was Hispanic, African or belonged to some other ethnic minority.

I’ve been a Star Trek fan since the original series first aired, and one of the things that attracted me to it in the first place was the philosophy of respect for all living beings. The ongoing mangling of Benedict’s name on this site often comes across as snide and anything but respectful. I don’t think anyone minds the occasional affectionate nickname (a la ‘Shat’) but there are times when people on this board have crossed the line.

Three people have now requested this behaviour cease. Is it a case of the amusement of the many outweighs the discomfort of the few?

Another thing if it is Johnny from ST 2009 then the look on Kirk’s face seeing his childhood friend on the Klingon homeworld taking down that Klingon. He couldn’t believe that is his childhood friend with that kind of strength and now he has to take him down.

#136 – I can’t speak for anyone else, but I think it’s just the relentlessness of the mockery that has worn me down. The same ‘joke’ is everywhere – twitter, blogs, websites. Even the Washington Post thought it was hilarious to mangle his name. Isn’t it just a bit juvenile? You’re a funny guy, Vultan. Surely you can find something more worthy of your talents?

Of course it’s a funny name. Benedict himself has said ‘It sounds like a fart in a bath.’ Maybe we could pick one nickname and stick with it rather than assuming one’s own variation is the MOST amusing and adding to the ever-increasing list.

As to your comment about Pres. Obama – it’s one thing to make fun of one’s own name. It’s a different matter when it’s the endless, tedious response of the public at large.

MJ, that’s true I keep forgetting about “I shall have my venegece” thing. Maybe Starfleet killed someone close to him or his family accidently but he doesn’t see it that way? Maybe it was Starfleet intervening on some planet were they shouldn’t have been where those people were? But Starfleet thought it was right in doing so?

One thing Hannibal Lecter, Jack Torrance and The Joker have in common, which might be out of place in Star Trek, is almost supernatural power. This type of villain is supposedly human but has a moment or moments when he suddenly appears as though out of nowhere or accomplishes an escape or sets a trap where there seems to be magic involved in anticipating what the hero would do or in what obstacles would have had to have been overcome. There’s a difference between a thriller and a horror flick and sometimes it seems we’re dealing with Freddy Krueger or Jason instead of someone who thinks and acts like a person. I hope that’s not relevant to this movie.

@ 141. I think it’s actually Starfleet NOT intervening on a planet so as not to break the prime directive which leads to him losing his family, and that’s why he’s so pissed off at Starfleet/Earth! That’s why we’re introduced to the prime directive & the clash of morals it can create in the first 9 minutes!

Kirk breaks it to save Spock, then returns to earth leaving Spock in command for a disciplinary hearing when Harrison fires at them through the window from the small EVA craft 208, kills Pike which gives Kirk the personal reason to go after him against orders.

Vengeance for a crazy person could be caused by anything. look at poor Ben Finney — he was prepared to bring down the Enterprise simply because he passed over for a promotion. Now we have confirmation from Abrams himself that Harrison is beyond being a certified nut job. He’s a first class, grade A psychopath.

And I agree, so far I have seen absolutely no evidence of Harrison being an “augment” or Khan, nor the story actually having anything to do with that. Not that what we’ve seen can’t point to that, just that there’s nothing conclusive so far. There’s exactly 42 frames of so-called “superhuman” ability which I contend can be explained alternatively. Cumberbatch says he has extraordinary physical and mental powers, but compared to me, so does Jason Bourne. So I say keep working the angle that Harrison is just a normal guy, at least until we actually have something concrete that points to a specific, undeniable conclusion. I know I will.

#141 – Maybe Harrison’s family is in Starfleet and they are observing a planet’s population and something goes wrong but Starfleet can’t intervene because of the Prime-Directive? What if its that one Kirk and Bones are running on in the new trailer?

“I think it’s actually Starfleet NOT intervening on a planet so as not to break the prime directive”

That’s actually pretty good. Abrams has already said he’s not making this movie or the fans. So if the first 9 minutes serve the same purpose as they did in ST09, then Abrams isn’t going to build it completely around the Prime directive if it doesn’t have greater meaning in the overall film — just some arbitrary day in the life for the fans.

107, In 1960s Hollywood they thought an actor with accent & a little make-up would fool the general audience in a little show about scifi. I know RM was a Mexican of Spanish or mixed ethnicity. But that won’t cut it today. Unless they change Khan from Indian to Hispanic.

That is because the “Khan faction” are delusional and won’t give up even when we now know that the villain isn’t Khan. John Harrison is not Khan. John Harrison is John Harrison.

You know, we could always read into that picture that Bad Robot posted… hmmm… looks like HAL from 2001. Gary Lockwood was in 2001. Garry Lockwood also played Gary Mitchell. Bad Robot is giving us a clue! The villain is Gary Mitchell!!

I never ONCE advocated For Mitchell! Check it out if you wish. Nor Garth. Nor Charlie X. Nor Gary Seven, etc. I have alaways hoped for (and believed) that the antagonist in the sequel will be a new character.

Well, so he will be some kind of “comic book supervillain”, I guess… Do they really have to “un-trek” EVERYTHING for this new movie series?
I really fear that these new movies are gradually becoming less “trek” and more generic “space adventure action movies”… this is kinda sad.
But actually that’s also the reason why trek belongs on the TV screen and not the “big screen” anyway…

“…a mixture of Hannibal Lector, Jack in the Shining and The Joker in Batman.”

That is quite possibly the dumbest thing I have ever read from Abrams. Makes him sound like every “executive producer” on a fan-made series who touts his captain as “a mixture of Kirk, Picard, and Sisko.” That’s great, lame-o. Here’s a twenty, go buy yourself some originality.

@139 It’s kind of you, and it does annoy me too but I bet Benedict himself is tired but tolerant of it. He’s obviously quite used to it by now, and it will keep happening as his fame grows (which is actually a good thing). So maybe do what it seems he does and just ignore it! It’s just childish jokes people will tire of and his talent will make everyone forget.